How skill expiry works

A skill level can be given an expiry date, which turns it into evidence that runs out. Once that date passes the skill lapses, and a lapsed skill stops meeting the requirements of anybody’s job title, so someone moves into a skill gap without anyone reassessing them. This article covers where the date comes from, what lapsing changes, what you can set by hand, and how a skill is renewed.

Where the date comes from

An expiry date comes from the first of these that applies:

1. A certificate. If the level came from a course whose certificate expires, the skill expires with the certificate.
2. The skill’s Validity period (months).
3. Nothing, in which case the skill never lapses.

Where the date comes from the skill itself, it is worked out when someone’s level is recorded: that day plus the Validity period (months).

When a skill lapses

Once the date passes, the skill shows as Lapsed and stops meeting requirements. The level they held is not removed.

A date you set yourself

For one person, you can type a date into Expires on (optional) on their Skills tab. A later automatic date never brings that date forward while the date you typed is still ahead. Once it has passed, a course completion or a renewal can replace it, so a renewed skill is not left lapsed for ever.

Changing the validity period

Changing a skill’s Validity period (months) only affects levels recorded afterwards. To apply it to people who already hold the skill, use Recalculate expiry dates. Dates typed in by hand and dates from a certificate stay as they are.

Renewing a lapsed skill

To renew a lapsed skill yourself, switch on Renew this skill on the person’s Skills tab and fill in Assessment note. You cannot save the renewal without the note, and changing the level of a lapsed skill needs it too.

What this means for your setup

Set Validity period (months) to match how often the skill has to be reassessed, and set it before people start being given levels. Changing it later reaches only the levels recorded after the change, and everyone already holding the skill keeps the date they had until you run Recalculate expiry dates.

Where a skill came from a course whose certificate expires, the certificate governs the date. Changing the skill’s validity period will not move it, and neither will recalculating.

For how a certificate’s own expiry date is worked out, see How certificates and expiry work.